by USA TODAY

by USA TODAY

BOSTON (AP) - The U.S. Coast Guard has found no signs of a British yacht that apparently capsized in the Atlantic Ocean last week but it will keep searching in waters far off Cape Cod, an official said Wednesday.

Capt. Anthony Popiel, who is overseeing the search for the 40-foot (12-meter) Cheeki Rafiki, said rescuers have scoured more than 9,000 square miles (23,000 sq. kilometers) of ocean and completed at least eight searches since resuming efforts Tuesday morning at the request of the British government.

The search has involved American, Canadian and British aircraft and ships, as well as commercial merchant vessels that volunteered to help.

Popiel said a U.S. Navy warship was expected to arrive around Thursday evening and a Coast Guard cutter to arrive by Friday.

"This is a large scale, international search and we are saturating a very large and very remote area of the Atlantic Ocean," he said. "Unfortunately, we have had no sightings of a life raft, persons in the water, the sailboat or debris."

Popiel said no decision has been made about suspending the search, which will continue at least into Thursday.

The yacht had been returning to England from a regatta in Antigua on Thursday when the crew reported taking on water about 1,000 miles east of Massachusetts.

Rescuers spent more than two days searching for the boat and its crew, which include 22-year-old captain Andrew Bridge and crew members James Male, 23; Steve Warren, 52; and Paul Goslin, 56.

The effort was called off Sunday amid treacherous weather, but its suspension caused an uproar in Britain, prompting politicians there to appeal to the U.S. to resume its efforts.